Saturday, April 28, 2018

We've been getting messages about this new HDJ on Seventh Avenue in North Charleston for a few weeks. After waiting for the new business to get its sea legs, we decided to stop in for lunch today.

First, I have to say that I found it impossible to believe that the trade name "Hot Diggity Dogs" wasn't already taken in West Virginia. We have reviewed "Haught Diggity Dogz" in Morgantown (now defunct), "Mr Diggity" in Vienna, and a little stand inside a Nitro flea market called "Linda's Hot Diggity Dogs," but I was shocked to find out that nobody had thought to use the name "Hot Diggity Dogs" for a hot dog joint before; it seems so obvious. A quick review of the WV Secretary of State's site reveals that someone in Culloden had registered the name "Hot Diggity Dog" (singular) in 2013, but it wasn't until this year that anyone used the plural. Kudos to them. It's a great name.

I wish the hot dogs were as good as the name. They're not. They could be, though, with more attention to one key element.

The buns are soft, the weenie is perfectly grilled and tasty and the mustard is yellow. Check, check and check.

The chili: Hot Diggity Dogs has two kinds - regular and spicy. We got one of each. They should ditch the regular. It is virtually tasteless. The spicy is good, very good. It reminded me of Chris' Hot Dogs chili. It's not so overly spicy that it would be uncomfortable for anyone, especially if the slaw is right - a nice sweet creamy slaw could really work with this chili.

Unfortunately, the slaw is where Hot Diggity Dogs fails completely. They have two kinds - regular and yellow. The regular tastes like small cabbage chunks in mayonnaise. Not a good texture or taste, and it does nothing for the chili. The yellow slaw tastes like small chunks of yellow cabbage. It has virtually no other flavor. I don't even understand why it's yellow.

So even with a good bun, weenie and chili, given the importance of a proper chili/slaw synergy to West Virginia Hot Dogs, we can't give this hot dog more than a 3 Weenie score. With the Five Weenie Huskey's Dairy Bar just a short walk away, we would be hard pressed to give anything close to a recommendation. If Hot Diggity Dogs can up its slaw game, though, it could be a contender.

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Welcome to the W.Va. Hot Dog Blog!

This blog contains Hot Dog Joint reviews from around West Virginia and serves as a discussion board for those reviews, as well as providing a space for general discussion of West Virginia Hot Dogs.

What Is A West Virginia Hot Dog?

A true West Virginia hot dog is a heavenly creation that begins with a wiener on a soft steamed bun. Add mustard, a chili-like sauce and top it off with coleslaw and chopped onions and you have a symphony of taste that quite possibly is the reason that many transplanted West Virginians can never really be happy living anywhere else. Different parts of West Virginia have variations on the theme but the common elements are sweet, creamy coleslaw and chili. Anything else is just not a true West Virginia hot dog!